A new project, the abandoned xj650RJ

Be sure you use one that passes straight through from side-to-side, no "common buss."

I rebuilt my stock ones, with new clips from Radio Shack; but the preferred "fix" is to upgrade to the more modern solution.

 

New fuses on, turned the ignition switch and the neutral light came off, push the start button and the starter came off and turned the engine!!! IT'S ALIVE!

Well... almost, the tank has been emptied so I am tempted to go and get some gas to see if any leaks from the petcock and see if it the engine will start.

The parts bike has challenged my patience but it is exciting to figure out what is wrong and almost get it started at least.

Darn it! Now I will be out of town for two weeks so the project will hit a pause, but will resume very soon. While I am out of town I may order the carb rebuild kit from Len and hopefully they will be here by the time I get home.

 

I did go to the gas station. I put a little bit on the tank, cranked it a few times but won't start. At the third try the engine backfired and scared the nutella out of me. Turned the ignition switch off and noticed the gas was leaking oit of the petc0k, so one more thing on the rebuild list. That is all for and the next two weeks.

 

BTW, neutral sensor works, turn lights go off, brake light runs... I am glad to find out that stuff works. I guess the first solenoid was not good but neither the fuses.

 

Today I drove back from a conference and what did I see?

 

I am back home for a few hours before I take off again. I had a little bit of time to clean the carbs since all the small parts have been through a carb cleaner.

I had my handy dremel with a little brush to clean the outside and they are starting to look good.




I will be ordering the rebuilt kit from Len soon as well as a kit to rebuild the petcock.

 

Be careful there. You already caught the MAS from dave. The spit shiny syndrome is spread by Fitz! He with those gorgeous 550 Seca's. Your evil plot has been revealed. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Ghost

 

Careful there, MiGhost...................I think you're catching it, too-------

LOL

Dave F

 

BUt they do look awesome

 

There is no question about it. You infected me long ago!! :lol:

Ghost

 

I didn't know this was a bug, I thought if it was metal and has no paint it better shine



I will need some more quality time with the bowls.

 

theres so many parts you can overhall it all lol.thanx

 

Today I finally made it home after 4,600 miles traveled over two weeks. In my mailbox I have a carb repair kit from Chacal as well as a petc0ck rebuilt,kit.

This weekend I will be getting the carbs back together and hopefully enough time for the 750 engine to go back in the frame.

I thought I had enough notes about what jets and carb parts went where but I may need a few more details. If somebody has pictures/diagram of the carb jets for the 750 carbs they will be much appreciated.

 

Wow what a thread, just had to read it "cover to cover".

On the jets, look at the numbers. Of the two with a "flange" the larger number is the main fuel jet & goes into the emulsion tube (and has the copper washer under it), the smaller is pilot fuel & sits next to main with no washer.

Of the 2 without the flange that look like grub screws, the larger one goes in the middle hole up top and the smaller one goes in the end hole (careful it goes in the right end, engine side, other hole is for the cover plates that are sometimes not fitted). Hope that is some help to you

 

That is a lot of reading, I hope you enjoyed all the ups and downs so far. This must be the longest thread by somebody that has never had (and still does not have) a running XJ.

 

Wonder how many words are in it? lol don't worry you're getting there and doing it right, that takes time and unlike those threads where the bike runs on the first day, once yours fires up it'll stay running!

 

Ok, I will be putting the carbs together tonight after catching up with the Walking Dead. I actually found a picture of the layout of the jets so hopefully I am getting this right

 

750, yo said that on the top the high number goes in the middle but I found a post with the large number on one end and like this image below. Could somebody confirm the right position?

 

The main air jet has the SMALL hole, and goes in the center. The pilot air jet has the LARGE hole, and goes to the engine side.

Yours seem to be all right.

 

Has anyone ran into the issue of the plate screw not fitting into the hole?

It seems like the screw is too big for the hole so it is not catching, only one carb will take it so I have no clue happened. It seems like the screws grew overnight and now they won't fit.

 

Quite right, I don't know HOW I managed to give that bit of bum advice after the double and triple AND quadruple checking I've been doing. Sorry, glad quebecois was here to correct my rather major tiredness/noobness based oversight 8O

If I'm going to make any excuses, the words "counterintuitive jet sizing" would feature heavily!

Never heard of the cover plate screw issue, are you sure the threads are all clean & undamaged? They can be a bit finicky about starting off sometimes as it's hard to get them perfectly lined up through the plate & down in the carb where you can't hold it steady.
Nobody seems to know exactly how much these plates DO if anything so if you really can't get them back you could probably leave them out and be just fine, I believe others have done this before (read one last night where they found the covers glued in place and had to bin them!) with the caveat being that the usual advice is if you took it out put it back

 

750, no problem. When I was doing research about it it seems like even some manual out there has the information backwards so it's no biggie. Now I am trying to figure out what happened to the screws that attach the top plate and why they won't fit anymore.

 

Yes even Mr Haynes fell for the "it's the main air jet so it must be bigger" bit 8O

Be interesting to hear what's going on with the "growing" screws, weird *twighlight zone music*

 

It looks like you mixed up some tiny bits...did you disassemble several carb racks at the same time?

 

Eco, yes....that post goes in that hole. Once you have the brass plate in place, that will help line up the post and it will screw in quite easily. Often the plates are bent, so I lay them on my table saw and lightly hammer them flat again. Then, they lay in nicely and the post screw/anchor screw/whatever you want to call it, goes right in.

Looking good..........

Dave F

 

I can't find the screws and plates from the 750 rack so I am using the ones from the 650. The screws seem to fit only one car body out of the entire rack, the other three don't like any of the screws... AGH!!!!

I will keep trying until one of gives up.

 

Thanks for the tip Dave. are you still looking for a side stand bar? which side were you looking for? I may have one to spare

 

Well, this is turning out to be quite annoying and puzzling. I have screws and plates that go over the air jets out of my 650 rack and try to place the onto the 750 rack. The racks seem identical other than jets, the original plates and screws are nowhere to be found (mental not, don't take something apart and go out of town for three weeks).

All the screws seem to fit in only one carb body, the other three carb bodies don't like any screws... I have tried everything I have (even tossing the screws in the freezer and see if they would fit after that. All 4 are identical so I have no idea, they have tested my patience today so I may need to go to Lowes and stain my deck or something :evil:

 

Maybe you will end up not putting the plates back on any carb. That way, they at least will be all the same.

I haven't been able to find any information to what these plates are there for.

 

That is what I was thinking, I believe they didn't have them when I bought this rack so I am curious about what would happen if I just don't put them in at all.

My guess is that they restrict air flow to the jets or create a certain path for air to reach the jets, not sure how that will affect the functionality at the end of the day but that is one option.

 

Eco.
Those plates are not shown in the parts schematics for the 750 carbs. Only the 650's. It has been discussed that they are a type of airflow control for the air jets. It should be no problem to leave them out.

Ghost

 

AWESOME!!!

That is all I needed to know, since I was having a hard time with them and my little one decided to take a 2 hr. nap I could not leave the house so I moved on to cleaning a bit more the carbs on the outside since the inside should be good to go.

This process has been almost therapeutic and I am finding out that I may have XJ-ADD.

I started cleaning the top of the carbs and somehow ended up mounting the 750 engine into the frame. It was a whole lot easier to get the engine back in than it was to take the old one out.

So here is my morning frustration / progress on images.

Finished with the little things inside the carbs:


Bringing it to a mirror shine may just take a bit of time:



Wait, what happened? I thought I was cleaning doing some minor cleaning...

 

While I was waiting for the weekend and have some time to set the floats on my carbs and sync them I though I would start putting some other things back on the frame.

I thought the airbox would be a 2 minute thing just to put it bak in... there is no such thing on this project. I feel like I am trying to fit a square peg on a round hole.

Was I supposed to put the airbox in before the engine? at this time there seems to be no way to fit it back in with the engine in place. There is just not enough room to wiggle it in.

 

I *think* the airbox will go back with the engine in, you just have to struggle & I've heard maybe heat it so it doesn't crack if it's cold out.

There was a thread where somebody else was trying to do this as well IIRC, don't know if they managed yet I'll look

EDIT-: wow look at post-whore me, red-liner in 2 weeks where you're on 248 posts & you're doing a full on rebuild! Oops 8O

EDIT 2-: this post has a bit of advice from mercuryman a way down page 1 http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=4 ... irbox.html

Foolber was the other member struggling, maybe he's worked out a way round it

 

"Yes" <- That is the correct answer.

How did you take it out? (it looks like it's in the frame in the first pics you posted).

There are tales of people getting it in, but it might require removing the intake joints if you haven't already (and CAREFUL, the screws like to snap off and get stuck in the head, requiring professional to remove) and you might need to unmount the engine to allow it to drop forward to give you a "little" more room. I wouldn't try heating or bending the airbox without doing those two things first (you might need all of them to get it in).

Or just pull the engine again, the airbox went in before the engine at the factory.

 

As you are going to have to pull the motor back out to put the driveshaft boot on that you forgot. Go Ahead. Blame it on all that FL sunshine that you soaked up!

Take the opportunity to "put the airbox in first".
Actually. Pulling the swingarm would be considerably easier to do for the driveshaft boot!

Otherwise. Remove the starter, and front engine mount bolts. Letting the engine pivot forward should give you just enough room to squeeze the airbox in.

Now that you have me thinking about it. I would be curious to find out if the airbox would fit in from the rear. Through the rear fender liner with the swingarm removed? Care to find out?

BTW: Don't let Fitz see those nasty original brake lines :idea: that are still on that bike.

Ghost

 

umm, woops good spot Ghost! That's an interesting point you make about going "in the back door" when the swingarm's off, looks like it would fit 8) like you say, lot easier than pulling the motor again.

And it's OK the bike's not being used yet, and you were replacing them anyway weren't you ecologito... :wink: :lol:

 

The bike is not even close to be road ready, once I sync carbs i still have to rebuild maste cylinder, new brake lines, shoes and pads, new tires, the whole 9 yard before I even think about putting it on the road and take it for inspection.

At this pace the bike will be ready for my baby's sweet 16 (she is 6 months old) but I will eventually finish it.

 

Well... after a bit of rocking the engine in the cradle, and removing the starter I was not able to get the airbox in so engine will have to come out on Saturday, pop airbox and engine back in.

This is a whole learning process that could test anybody's patience

 

So you're not trying the swingarm technique... Does it not look hopeful in the flesh? I'd have preferred that to lifting an engine around tbh but then I can't really see how it looks. Just don't forget that UJ gaiter while the motor's out or you'll kick your own butt lol

 

i took the airbox out of a 750 junker and if i remember i had the starter off the carbs off and the back motor mount off and it still didn't come out.
then i cut one side of a frame bracket around the seat/tank area and bent it out of the way, then it was no problem. i do remember thinking, that was easy and wouldn't be hard to fix.
see if something like that would help

 

Alright, the airbox is in! It took me 30 minutes to get the engine out far enough to slide the airbox in. This whole engine removal process is not fun but I am sure that will go a lot smoother and quicker next time... Wait no no no more "next" time. I have been infected with the xj bug. Thanks Dave and fitz

 

Hahaha, bad isn't it!

Glad you managed to get airbox sorted, did you pull the motor all the way out or how far did you have to strip it? 8)

 

The engine pretty much came off all the way for about 30 seconds, I had one hand on the frame almost upside down and the engine on the ground, slipped the airbox and I dropped the frame again on the engine. This time it took a lot of wresting for the engine to sit right on the cradle but it finally did. Hopefully I can make some time tomorrow to wet set the carb floats and bench sync them so I can get them in as well.

 

Glad you got the air box back in, I bet that's the last time you'll do that

Nice work keep it up!

 

Did he forget to install air box before motor ?? oh damn ... yes thats a b**ch !

 

Yes I did, and it was a P.I.T.A. It has been impossible to sync the carbs since I will smell like a gas pump and either the wife is at home or have to feed the baby... agh!!! I just need an hour and can't seem to find it.

 

I put my wife on her horse , point her twords the mountain behind me and i got all day !! unless she is elbow deep in grease and oil with me !

 

Since I will be working on the floats this weekend I decided to bench sync the carbs so now I know what I am looking for (at least I feel like I do).

This forum provided with a great show-how thread to make this a simple task: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=6366.html

 

Eco. Looking good. That thread that you linked gave me a great idea what to do. If you run into any problems or anything feel free to contact Dave... er, Hogfiddles, He gave me the run down and a few tricks that helped with doing that. I have not done the running sync on the carbs but from hearing her run, I think they are pretty close. Keep up the good work!!!